Digital contents distribution method and distribution system

ABSTRACT

An intellectual contents distribution method distributes intellectual contents from a computer via a network. The contents provided from a contents provider are stored in a computer  1 , along with support results from at least one supporter relating to the contents. The contents are transmitted to a system of a purchaser via a network in response to the purchaser&#39;s request. Also, purchase results of the contents are stored in the computer. Further, the computer computes earnings to be returned to the contents provider and earnings to be returned to each supporter based on a predetermined computational formula by using the support results and the purchase results stored in the computer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/465,499, filed Aug. 21, 2014, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/467,804, filed Aug. 12, 2003, whichis a U.S. national stage application of PCT/JP2002/04305 filed on Apr.30, 2002, and is related to, claims priority from Japanese PatentApplication Numbers 2001-136576 filed May 7, 2001, the entire contentsof all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an intellectual contents distributionmethod, distribution system and distribution program. More specifically,the present invention relates to a distribution method, a distributionsystem and a distribution program for distributing intellectual contentssuch as music, musical performances, movies, art, literature, comics,computer software, and the like, from a computer via a network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Heretofore, musical performances (instrumental and vocal) have beenmarketed in the form of records or compact disks (CD), movies have beenmarketed in the form of video tapes, art or literature such as comics,cartoons, novels, and the like have been marketed in the form ofpublications, and computer software has been marketed in the form ofsoftware packages.

Musical performances marketed in the form of a CD will be explainedhereinbelow as an example. In the explanation given hereinbelow “acopyright holder” and “a neighboring right holder” are the termsemployed in the Copyright Act of Japan. In other countries, the meaningof those terms can be interpreted based on the Copyright Laws of thosecountries.

Because a huge cost is associated with the manufacture and circulationof CDs, the earnings received by the composer or songwriter who are thecopyright holders or by the performer who is a neighboring right holderassume a tiny fraction of the total cost of sold CDs. Furthermore, inrecent years, if a performance was given by a small group of performers,the performance recording could be conducted by the performersthemselves in a simple manner, without using a studio, recordingequipment, and recording engineers of special recording companies, andthough such a recording was sold as is, in most cases the recordingcould be good enough for listening. However, when such recordings werecarried into a circulation channel as the usual CDs, the earnings of therecording entity (a record manufacturer per Copyright Law of Japan),copyright holders, and performers may be very small.

For example, regarding musical performances, a music distribution methodhas recently been suggested, this method comprises the steps ofconverting a musical performance into digital information anddistributing it to a system of a purchaser via the internet. With such amethod, a musical performance is converted into digital information, thedigitalized musical performance is stored on a server connected to anetwork representing the internet, and the digitalized musicalperformance is then transmitted to the system of the purchaser from theserver via the network. The purchaser can reproduce and appreciate themusical performance in their system. Publications can be similarlydistributed via a network in the form of electronic publications.Computer software has been regularly distributed via networks. Thoughmovies that have been circulated as video tapes have a very large volumeof information, the increase in network speed and improvement ofinformation compression technology gradually make it possible todistribute the movies via the networks.

In the case of a performance recorded by the copyright holder orperformer and a recording entity associated therewith, the recording canbe converted into a digital format and loaded in the form of web pageson a web server connected to the internet. The web pages as referred toherein may be web pages operated by the recording entities themselves orweb pages operated by the administrators managing the musicdistribution. A purchaser wishing to purchase the music downloads themusic converted into a digital format from the web page into theirsystem and pays a compensation therefor. When web pages are used thatare operated by the recording entities themselves, the received paymentcan be allocated to the copyright holder, performer and recordingentities. When web pages are used that are operated by theadministrators managing the music distribution, part of the payment canbe also allocated to the administrators. In both cases, the cost ofmanaging the web page is quite small by comparison with the manufactureand circulation of CDs. Therefore, the share of earnings received byintellectual contents providers such as copyright holders, performers,and recording entities is much higher than that obtained fromcirculation of CDs, and the share of earnings can be increased even ifthe sale price is reduced.

As described hereinabove, employing a method for distributing thedigitalized intellectual contents (recorded musical performances, copiesof art, literature, comics, cartoons, recorded images such as movies,computer software, and the like) makes it possible to sell the productsat a very low circulation cost.

However, the essence and specific features of the intellectual contentscannot be made known to the general public by merely uploading theintellectual contents converted into a digital form in a web page. Thefrequency at which the public accesses the web page can be increased byregistering in a widely-known internet search system. However, it isdifficult to arouse a sufficient purchasing interest by only publicadvertisement loaded on a web page. Moreover, when proceeds from salesfrom a web page only serve as a revenue source, sufficient revenuescannot be obtained before the intellectual contents become publiclyknown and the number of purchasers increases. For this reason,management of the distribution web page and actions of the intellectualcontents providers such as copyright holders, performers, recordingentities, and the like cannot be conducted smoothly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an intellectualcontents distribution method, distribution system, and distributionprogram that make it possible to inform the general public about theexistence and specific features of the intellectual contents, toincrease the number of sale events for the intellectual contents, and toensure the operation and management of funds for the intellectualcontents providers and distribution web page administrators within therequired periods, while enjoying the merits of distributing theintellectual contents via a network.

The number of music lovers who are made happy by finding excellentperformers or musical compositions among unknown performers (an artistsuch as a musician, singer, etc.) or musical compositions that have notyet become familiar to the wide public, finding unpublished musicalcompositions of famous performers, telling their own friends about thefound unknown performers or unpublished musical compositions, andeventually letting the wide public know about the performers or musicalcomposition famous has been growing. Further, the number of meanssuitable for disseminating this information among friends has beengrowing and presently they include cellular phones, mail using cellularphones, electronic mail via personal computers and the like, a bulk mailmethod by which the same mail is sent to a large number of people,advertisement in a web page opened by the person disseminating theinformation, and the like. Such information is rapidly spread via thecircle of friends. In the present specification those people who aremade happy by spreading widely the intellectual contents such as musicalcompositions or unknown performers will be collectively referred to as“supporters”.

In the past, the supporters were contended with disseminating widely anunknown musical composition by their own advertisement activity.However, the supporters are even more satisfied if there is a way tofinancially support the activity of the intellectual contents providerssuch as performers, and the like. The supporters will be even moresatisfied if they obtain a financial return when their advertisementactivity increases sales of the intellectual contents such as musicalcompositions and the like.

Therefore, a distribution method that takes full account of theabove-described activity, state of mind, and satisfaction of thesupporters, would be able to inform the general public about theexistence and specific features of the intellectual contents, toincrease the number of sale events for the intellectual contents, and toensure the operation and management funds for the intellectual contentsproviders and distribution web page administrators within the requiredperiods, while enjoying the merits of distributing the intellectualcontents via a network.

The present invention is based on the above-described information andthe essence thereof is described hereinbelow.

An intellectual contents distribution method for distributing theintellectual contents from a computer via a network, wherein a contents6 provided from a contents provider is stored in a computer 1, supportresults from one, two, or more supporters relating to the contents 6 arestored in the computer, the contents 6 are transmitted to a system 5 ofa purchaser via a network 2 in response to the purchaser's request,purchase results of the contents 6 are stored in the computer 1, and theearnings to be returned to the contents provider and the earnings to bereturned to each supporter are computed with the computer 1 based on apredetermined computational formula by using the support results andpurchase results stored in the computer 1.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein the actual current earnings that have to be received by thecontents provider or each supporter are transmitted from the computer 1via the network 2 to systems (3, 4) of the contents provider or eachsupporter, in response to the request from the contents provider or eachsupporter.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein the contents provider and each supporter are assigned withpersonal identification information and the transmission of informationrelating to the contents provider and each supporter is conducted whenthe personal identification information has been received from thesystems (3, 4) of the contents provider or each supporter via thenetwork 2.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein information on the present method for distributing theintellectual contents 6 via the network 2, information to the effectthat the provision of the contents has been solicited, informationrelating to the method for support employed by the supporter, andinformation on the earnings that have to be received by the contentsprovider in response to the support results and sale results aretransmitted in response to a request from an unspecified person to thesystem of the unspecified person.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein information on the present method for distributing theintellectual contents via the network, information to the effect that asupporter has been solicited with respect to the contents provided fromthe contents provider, information relating to the method for supportemployed by the supporter, and information on the earnings that have tobe received by the supporter in response to the support results and saleresults of the contents are transmitted in response to a request from anunspecified person to the system of the unspecified person.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein information on the contents that has been stored, information tothe effect that these contents can be received via the network, andinformation to the effect that these contents can be purchased aretransmitted in response to a request from an unspecified person to thesystem of the unspecified person.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein information on the stored contents comprises informationprovided by the contents provider and this information provided by thecontents provider can be freely updated in response to the access by thecontents provider to the computer 1 via the network.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein part of the contents or the entirety of the contents istransmitted to the system of the purchaser via the network in responseto the request from the purchaser, irrespective of whether thedeclaration of purchase intent by the purchaser is present or not, andthe declaration of purchase intent by the purchaser is receivedthereafter.

The intellectual contents distribution method as described hereinabove,wherein personal identification information is assigned to a purchaserin response to a request from the purchaser and the computer 1 canidentify the purchaser by the personal identification information afterthe assignment.

An intellectual contents distribution system for distributing theintellectual contents from a computer via a network, wherein the systemcomprises connection means or unit 11 for connecting a system 3 of acontent provider, a system 4 of a supporter, and a system 5 of apurchaser via a network, and further comprises a contents database 13storing the contents 6 provided from the contents provider, a supporterdatabase 14 for storing the support results from one, two or moresupporters corresponding to the contents, a purchase database 15 forstoring the contents purchase results, and earnings computation means12, the contents 6 stored in the contents database 13 are transmitted tothe system 5 of the purchaser via the network 2 in response to a requestfrom the purchaser, and earnings which are to be returned to thecontents provider and earnings which are to be returned to eachsupporter are computed with earnings computation means by using thesupport results stored in the supporter database 14 and purchase resultsstored in the purchase database 15.

The intellectual contents distribution system as described hereinabove,wherein the actual current earnings that have to be received by thecontents provider or each supporter are computed with earningscomputation means 12 in response to the request from the contentsprovider or each supporter and the computation results are transmittedfrom connection means 11 to the system of contents provider or eachsupporter via the network.

The intellectual contents distribution system as described hereinabove,wherein information of one, two, or more types selected from informationon the present system for distributing the intellectual contents via thenetwork, information to the effect that the provision of the contentshas been solicited, information relating to the method for supportemployed by the supporter, information on the earnings that have to bereceived by the contents provider or supporter in response to thesupport results and sale results, information to the effect that asupporter has been solicited with respect to the contents provided fromthe contents provider, information on the stored contents, informationto the effect that the contents can be received via the network, andinformation to the effect that the contents can be purchased istransmitted in response to a request from an unspecified person fromconnection means 11 to the system of the unspecified person via thenetwork.

The intellectual contents distribution system as described hereinabove,wherein information on the stored contents comprises informationprovided by the contents provider and this information provided by thecontents provider can be freely updated in response to the access by thecontents provider to the computer system via the network.

The intellectual contents distribution system as described hereinabove,wherein part of the contents or the entirety of the contents istransmitted to the system of the purchaser via the network in responseto the request from the purchaser, irrespective of whether thedeclaration of purchase intent by the purchaser is present or not, andthe declaration of purchase intent by the purchaser is receivedthereafter.

An intellectual contents distribution program for causing a computer tofunction as the intellectual contents distribution system as describedhereinabove.

A computer readable storage medium having recorded therein theintellectual contents distribution program described hereinabove.

In accordance with the present invention, the intellectual contents meanrecordings of musical performances, publications such as literature,scientific publications, art, comics, continuous recordings of imagessuch as movies and the like, and computer software, databases, and thelike.

In accordance with the present invention, the intellectual contents areprovided by a “contents provider”. Copyright and neighboring rightspecified by a Copyright Act are usually associated with theintellectual contents. Therefore, the contents provider predeterminesthe entities having a title to the right of reproduction or transmissionpossibility right also specified by the Copyright Act in relation to thecopyright and neighboring right for the contents, or agents orrepresentatives thereof. Furthermore, in accordance with the presentinvention, when the intellectual contents are distributed, theattribution of rights based on the copyrights and neighboring rightsbetween the contents provider, distribution system administrator, andsupporter have to be determined by agreement between the parties. Theexplanation provided above is based on the language specified by theCopyright Act of Japan. In other countries, the interpretation should bebased on the copyright acts of those countries.

The “administrator” of the distribution method and distribution systemin accordance with the present invention prepares the distributionsystem, receives the intellectual contents from the contents provider,solicits the supporter, receives support from the supporter, allocatesthe support to the contents provider and administrator, distributes theintellectual contents to a purchaser, collects purchase cost, andallocates the purchase cost to the contents provider, administrator, andsupporter. For the administrator to implement the above-describedoperations, a contract should be prepared and signed by the contentsprovider, supporter, and administrator.

In accordance with the present invention, the supporter is an entityresponding to the solicitation made by the administrator. An entityusually becomes a supporter by providing the prescribed support sum. Itgoes without saying that the supporter can substitute a promise toadvertise the contents widely to the public for the support sum,according to a contract with the administrator. The supporter receivesthe purchase cost allocated thereto according to the original contract,once the contents have been purchased. The supporter usually conductsthe advertisement activity by its own efforts and means with the objectof expanding the sale of the contents.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating schematically the entiredistribution system in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow charts illustrating the flow of informationbetween the computer and the system of a contents provider in accordancewith the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts illustrating the flow of informationbetween the computer and the system of a supporter in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the flow of information between thecomputer and the system of a purchaser in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating schematically the entiredistribution system in accordance with the present invention, which usestelevision broadcasting;

FIG. 6 shows a browser display screen for soliciting the contentsprovider in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show browser display screens for requesting the auditionof the contents in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 8A and 8B show browser display screens for requesting the downloadof the contents in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows a browser display screen displaying the information aboutthe artist in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows a browser display screen for soliciting a supporter inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 11A and 11B show browser display screens displaying the earningsresults for the supporter in accordance with the present invention; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B show browser display screens displaying the earningsresults for the contents provider in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be describedhereinbelow based on the block-diagram shown in FIG. 1 and flow chartsshown in FIGS. 2A-4.

When the intellectual contents are a music performance, the melody isperformed by a performer such as a musician or a singer. Thisperformance is recorded by a recording entity. When the performance ismade by a small number of people, the recording can be conducted in acomparatively simple manner without a special recording studio orexpensive recording equipment. The recording can be made even easier ifa sequencer is used as the musical instrument. The contents of therecording are recorded on magnetic tapes such as cassette tapes, DAT,and the like, compacts disks (CD), mini disks (MD), and the like. Therecorded information can be read by a computer, converted to theprescribed format, and stored as digital information on a memory device,such as a hard disk inside the computer. Significant progress has beenobserved in recent years in recording compression technology. As aresult, the original data can be compressed to 1/10 or even lessthereof. Further, in order to prevent so-called illegal copying, thatis, reproduction prohibited by the Copyright Act, electronic marks areintroduced or a format is employed which limits the number of copies.

When the intellectual contents are in the form of literary works ofliterature, science, art or comics, if the literary work is a printedproduct, it can be read with a scanner or digital camera and convertedinto digital information, or if it is already presented in the form ofdigital information, it can be directly read by a computer, optionallysubjected to compression, and stored in the storage unit such as a harddisk in the computer.

When the intellectual contents are a movie consisting of a continuoussequence of images, those images are usually recorded on a video tape orfilm. Therefore, the movie can be read by a computer, subjected tocompression, and stored in a memory unit such as a hard disk in thecomputer.

The role allocation between the contents provider and distributionsystem administrator is usually such that the initial audio recording,video recording, or recording on paper is conducted by the contentsprovider. Compression and conversion of this initial video or audioinformation into distributable digital information is usually conductedby either the contents provider or the distribution systemadministrator.

The following method can be employed for providing the contents from thecontents provider. For example, in the case of audio recordings ofmusical performances, the MD medium having the contents recorded thereonis provided from the contents provider to the administrator, and thecontents are stored in the administrator's system based on the MD. It ismost preferred that a mode shown in FIG. 1 be used in which the system 3of the contents provider and a computer 1 of the administrator areconnected via a network 2 and contents 6 stored in the system 3 of thecontents provider are transmitted to the computer 1 of the administratorvia the network 2.

The contents 6 are stored in a contents database 13 in the computer 1 ofthe administrator and are placed in a state in which they can betransmitted to a system 5 of a purchaser via the network 2 in responseto a request from the purchaser. A person desiring to make a purchaseaccesses the web page of the administrator from its own system via theinternet and verifies the presence of the contents that he/she wants topurchase. As for the purchase request from the purchaser, in the mostcommon mode, the input from the system 5 of the purchaser is transmittedvia the network 2 and the prescribed input is made in the web page ofthe administrator. If necessary, the prescribed compensation payment orpromise thereof is made. The contents 6 are transmitted via the network2 to the system 5 of the purchaser in response to the request from thepurchaser as disclosed above in accordance with the present invention.If the purchase contract is made, the purchase results relating to thecontents are stored in a purchase database 15 in the computer 1 of theadministrator.

Issues relating to supporters representing a feature of the presentinvention will be explained below.

The administrator who received the contents from the contents providermakes a plan with respect to a total support sum to be received fromsupporters based on the estimated sale price and sale estimates. Thesupport sum authorized by the supporters is basically split between thecontents provider and administrator and becomes the operation fund andinitial profit of the contents provider and administrator. Solicitationof supporters can be conducted by a method comprising the steps ofdividing the support sum, for example, in N parts, considering each of Nsupport sums as 1 share, and soliciting the supporters by considering 1share as a minimum support amount. It goes without saying that thesupporters may be solicited without determining the total support sum,and splitting between the contents provider and administrator may beconducted based on the resulting total support sum.

The administrator then determines how the proceeds of sales are to besplit between the three entities (contents provider, administrator, andsupporters) as a result of contents sale and an agreement on this matteris reached between the contents provider, administrator, and supporters.

The administrator can determine in advance the approach to theabove-described support system and the issue of sharing the supportmoney and proceeds of sales and describe it in the administrator's webpage.

As a result, information on the method for distributing the intellectualcontents via the network, information to the effect that the contentsprovision has been requested, information relating to the method forsupport by the supporters, information on earnings that are to bereceived by the contents provider according to the support results andsale results, and other important information on the above-describedmethod can be transmitted to the system of an unspecified person via thenetwork in response to the request from the unspecified person readingthe web page of the administrator. As a result, the above-mentionedinformation can be displayed on the system of the unspecified person.The unspecified persons include the holders of the intellectualcontents. If the contents holder reading the information provides thecontents to the distribution system of the administrator, the allocationof support sum can be initially received, the advertisement activity ofthe supporters can be anticipated, sales of the intellectual contentsthereof can be increased, and what portion of the proceeds of sales canbe received as earnings can be determined. As a result, theadministrator can receive the provision of a plurality of types ofhigh-quality intellectual contents from a plurality of contentsproviders. The flow chart of this process is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Once the administrator has received the intellectual contents from thecontents provider, the specific method for soliciting the supporters isstudied in the above-described manner and solicitation of the supportersis initiated. The details relating to the intellectual contents andsolicitation of supporters can be described in the web page of theadministrator. Thus, information on the method for distributing theintellectual contents via the network, information to the effect thatsupporters have been solicited with respect to the contents that hasbeen provided by the contents provider, information relating to themethod for support by the supporters, information on earnings that areto be received by the contents provider according to the support resultsand sale results, and other important information on the above-describedmethod can be transmitted to the system of an unspecified person via thenetwork in response to the request from the unspecified person readingthe web page of the administrator and, as a result, the above-mentionedinformation can be displayed on the system of the unspecified person.The unspecified persons include those who desire to provide support. Thesupport candidates become aware that by sending a specified support sumor providing the specified support upon confirming the details of thecontents, they can receive part of the proceeds of sales as earnings,following the sale of the contents. As described above, for example, ifthe contents are music, because among the music lovers there are manypeople who enjoy finding an unknown artist and bringing the artist up,those music lovers can be gained as supporters. Data relating to thesupporter subscription state and support money supply state are storedin the supporter database in the computer 1 of the administrator. Theflow chart of this process is shown in FIG. 3A.

If the contents provider wishes to know how the supporters are solicitedfor the provided contents, how successful the sale of the contents is,and how large the sum of the earnings that is to be received by thecontents provider is and can immediately get the answers to hisquestions, then the contents provider will be comfortable with and willrely on the system in accordance with the present invention. Similarly,if the supporter wishes to know the current state of sales and theamount of earnings which are to be obtained with respect to the contentsthat are supported by the supporter and can immediately get the answersto his questions, then the supporter will feel easy with and will relyon the system in accordance with the present invention. The results ofsupport provided by the supporter for the contents can be stored in thecomputer, the purchase results for the contents can be stored in thecomputer at the same time, and the earnings which are to be returned tothe contents provider and the earnings which are to be returned to eachsupporter can be calculated by employing means for calculating earningswhich is incorporated in the computer, based on the predeterminedcalculation formulas by using the aforesaid support results and purchaseresults stored in the computer. Obviously, the earnings which are to bereturned to the administrator can be also calculated. Because theearnings which are to be returned to the contents provider and earningswhich are to be returned to each supporter can be calculated andreported at the prescribed time or upon request, the contents providerand supporters can safely entrust the administration of contentsdistribution to the administrator.

Inquiries from the contents provider and supporters, which relate to theearnings, can be received via phone or fax and answers thereto can besent also via phone or fax after the administrator calculates theearnings results with the computer. However, it is preferred that thecurrent earnings that are due to the contents provider or each supporterare preferably transmitted to the systems of the contents provider oreach supporter from the computer 1 via the network 2 in response to therequest from the contents provider or each supporter. The systems of thecontents provider and the supporters are connected to the computer ofthe administrator via the network and the contents provider andsupporters input requests concerning the current earnings which are tobe obtained thereby. The computer of the administrator can immediatelytransmit the results obtained in calculating the earnings on a fixedperiodic basis, or the results obtained in calculating the earnings inresponse to the question to the system of the entity requesting theinformation via the network. Usually, the information sent to the systemof the entity requesting the information is displayed as a web page onthe browser of the system of the entity requesting the information. Theflow chart of the process is shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 3B.

When the computer of the administrator receives the request to provideinformation from the contents provider or supporter via the network, thecomputer of the administrator cannot send a response unless it hasconfirmed that the entity requesting the information is indeed thecontents provider or supporter. It is preferred that the contentsprovider and each supporter be assigned with personal identificationinformation and the information relating to the contents provider andeach supporter be transmitted when the personal identificationinformation is received via the network from the contents provider andeach supporter. In such a case, each person can be identified with highreliability. The aforesaid personal identification information isusually a combination of a password and an ID code indicating eachperson. The password is known only to the person, the administrator, andthe computer thereof, and usually can be changed by the person. Eachperson is identified by transmitting the ID code and password from theperson's system in response to the request from the computer of theadministrator. The transmitted information as referred to hereinrepresents the amount of earnings which is to be received by thecontents provider or supporter and other information.

The information held by the administrator may be preferentially providedto the contents provider or supporter assigned with the personalidentification information. For example, if information relating to thedetails of newly provided contents is preferentially supplied to thecontents provider and supporters, there is a high probability of thembecoming the supporters of the novel contents. As for means forpreferentially providing the information, it is possible to expand therange of information that can be provided when the computer of theadministrator is accessed by a person having personal identificationinformation assigned thereto, or to provide the information in the formof periodic or random electronic mail to a person having a personalidentification information assigned thereto. Yet another option is toprovide such persons with a right to view the contents even withoutdisplaying the purchase intent.

The contents are stored in the computer of the administrator in a statein which it can be transmitted to the system of the purchaser via thenetwork in response to the request from the purchaser. A person wishingto make a purchase accesses the web page of the administrator fromhis/her own system via the internet and confirms the presence of thecontents that he/she wishes to purchase. The computer of theadministrator is in a state in which it can transmit informationrelating to the contents stored in the computer, information to theeffect that the contents can be received via the network, andinformation to the effect that the contents can be purchased to thesystem of an unspecified person via the network in response to therequest from the unspecified person. More specifically, the computer ofthe administrator can perform a web server function, the display requestcan be made by an unspecified person accessing the web page opened onthe web server, the information can be transmitted via the network tothe system of the unspecified person, and this information can bedisplayed on the system of the unspecified person. The unspecifiedpersons include those who wish to purchase the contents. Those who wishto make a purchase can determine the contents which are to be purchased,upon referring to the received information.

As described hereinabove, the web page opened by the administratorserves as an advertisement of the contents. It goes without saying thatthe information on the web page relating to the contents stored in thecomputer can display the advertisement initially provided by thecontents provider and the advertisement conceived by the administrator.Further, it is preferred that the information on the stored contentscontain the information that is supplied by the contents provider andcan be freely updated by the contents provider via the network inresponse to the access to the computer. For example, if an electronicbulletin board is provided for each of the contents or each artist onthe web page and if the system is such that the person accessing the webpage, more specifically, the person wishing to make a purchase or asupporter can freely express his/her view or give his/her thoughts onthe contents and the contents provider can write his/her comments inregard to those impressions or thoughts, then the fan and the artist candirectly communicate via the electronic bulletin board. Such a dialogeffectively increases the number of fans of this particular artist andmakes a significant contribution to the increase in sales of thecontents.

As for the method by which the purchaser can make a purchase request, ina most typical situation, the input from the system of the purchaser istransmitted via the network and the prescribed input is made to the webpage of the administrator. If necessary, the prescribed compensationpayment or a promise of compensation payment can be made.

As for the relationship between the purchase compensation payment fromthe purchaser and the transmission of contents, the following methodscan be employed: (a) the contents are transmitted after the compensationpayment or a promise thereof; (b) initially, only a part of the contentsis transmitted and then the entire contents are transmitted after thecompensation payment or a promise thereof; (c) the entire contents aretransmitted prior to compensation payment and the compensation paymentis received ex post facto from the selected purchasers.

The above-described methods (b) and (c) correspond to the method bywhich a part of the contents or the entire contents are transmitted tothe purchaser's system via the network in response to the request fromthe purchaser, regardless of the presence of the declaration of purchaseintent from the purchaser, and the purchase intent display from thepurchaser is received thereafter. For example, if the contents are amusical recording, according to method (b), the purchaser may listenonly to part of the melody, or according to method (c), the purchasermay listen to the entire melody and may display the intent of making thecompensation payment only if he/she wishes to make a purchase. Becausethe purchaser can make a compensation payment after checking all thedetails, the purchaser can feel himself at ease. The flow chart for thecase corresponding to the above-described method (b) is shown in FIG. 4.

A transfer from a bank account or a convenience store can be used by thepurchaser to make the compensation payment for the purchase.Alternatively, the account can be settled by using a credit card, debitcard, or PAYPAL. Settling the account with a credit card is preferredbecause it does not require a trip to the bank or convenience store tomake a payment. However, if the card number is sent via a network, therisk of the card number being stolen cannot be ignored. If a personalidentification information is assigned to the purchaser in response tothe request by the purchaser, the computer can identify the purchaserbased on the personal identification information after it has beenassigned to the purchaser and it becomes unnecessary to input the creditcard number each time a purchase is made. As for the personalidentification information, the electronic mail address of the personcan be used as the ID code and the password can be issued by the systemof the administrator.

For example, when the intellectual contents are a musical performance,the purchaser usually purchases the intellectual contents with theobject of appreciating the music individually. In such a case, thepurchase price for the intellectual contents is obviously low. However,in accordance with the present invention, the object of purchasing anindividual contents by a purchaser is not limited to such an individualuse. For example, the purchaser may be a broadcasting corporationpurchasing a musical performance for subsequent broadcasting, or thepurchase can be made for reproducing the musical performance in placeswhere a large number of people are present. In such a case, the purchaseprice is higher than in the above-described case of individual use. Itgoes without saying that a mutual agreement has to be reached in advancebetween the contents provider, administrator, and supporters withrespect to such issues as to whether the distribution of intellectualcontents for such non-individual use is to be allowed, how high theprice should be, and how the proceeds of sales should be distributed.

The computer 1 administered by the administrator as shown in FIG. 1 is acentral unit in accordance with the present invention. A usual personalcomputer or a workstation can be advantageously used as the computer 1.It goes without saying that an office computer or a mainframe may bealso used. Further, a machine having an incorporated microcomputer chipmay be also used.

The computer 1 comprises a central processing unit 10, and a variety ofnecessary processing operations are conducted according to the programinstalled therein. The computer 1 has connecting means or unit 11 forconnection to the network 2 and can be connected via the network 2 tothe system 5 of the purchaser, system 3 of the contents provider, andsystem 4 of supporters. Connection of the computer 1 to internet 2 a ismost typically made using a telecommunication circuit. As a result, thesystem 5 of the purchaser, the system 3 of the contents provider, andthe system 4 of supporters can be connected to the computer 1 byconnecting to internet 2 a via the respective telecommunication circuit.A mode may be also employed in which the system 3 of the contentsprovider is directly connected to the computer 1, for example, via atelephone line, without using internet 2 a. As for the connection means11 of computer 1, if the telecommunication circuit connected to thecomputer is an analog telephone line, a modem is used; if thecommunication line is an ISDN line, a terminal adaptor or a remoterouter is used; and if the communication line is an ADSL line or CATVline, a modem is used.

The computer 1 is usually composed of a single computer. However, thefunctions of the present computer can be shared by no less than twocomputers, and no less than two computers can function separately.Further, no less than two computers may be installed in remotelocations. For example, if only the contents database is held in thesecond computer, other functions are held in the first computer, and thepurchase wish from a purchaser is received by the first computer, then amode can be used in which the first computer sends a command to thesecond computer and the requested contents are sent to the system of thepurchaser from the contents database of the second computer.

The system 5 of the purchaser, the system 3 of the contents provider,and the system 4 of supporters may be in the form of personal computers,workstations, mainframes, cellular phones, and the like. The softwareoperating in the system 5 of the purchaser, the system 3 of the contentsprovider, and the system 4 of supporters can be special softwaredesigned specifically for communication with the computer 1, but thebrowser software for the internet that is usually used can be alsoemployed for this purpose. When the browser software is used, thecomputer 1 constitutes a web server and a variety of displays can bedisplayed via the browser software on the display of the purchasersystem by referencing, for example, to the HTML text stored in thecomputer. Furthermore, when the browser software is used, programmingmeans such CGI or JAVA®. which are usually employed in the internet canbe used.

The computer 1 comprises a contents database 13 storing the contents, asupporter database storing the support results from the supporters, anda purchase database 15 storing the contents of purchase results. Therespective databases are arranged on the storage device such as a harddisk of computer 1. The contents database 13, supporter database 14, andpurchase database 15 are preferably composed and stored on the storagedevice as individual files, but at least two of those databases may bealso composed as a single file.

In the case of movies that consist of images, the amount of data is hugeand memory units using a medium such as CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, andthe like can be used for the contents database 13. The contents database13 stores the contents provided by the contents provider upon convertingto digital information of the prescribed format. When a plurality ofcontents are stored and transmission to the systems of the purchaser isconducted via the network in response to the request from the purchaser,the appropriate contents are read out from the contents database underthe control of the central processing unit of computer 1 and theread-out contents are transmitted via connection means 11 of computer 1.

The supporter database 14 stores the number of supporters, informationidentifying each supporter, support results relating to each supporter(sum and the like), and information on the earnings that have to bereceived by the supporter according to the contents sale results.

The transmission of information in response to the request made by theperson wishing to make a purchase, establishment of the purchasecontract, and actual payment of the price are recorded for each of thecontents and each purchaser (person wishing to make a purchase) and thenumber of transmission events, the number of purchase contractestablishment events, and the number of price payments for each of thecontents are also recorded in the purchase database 15. As for thecollection of payment, the user of the present invention can establishand use his/her own charge system, or the actual collection can beconducted by the system of major providers (internet connection serviceproviders) in which the charge system has already been established, andactual reception of payments can be also recorded in the purchasedatabase by receiving a payment event message from the major provider.In the case of confirming the transmission of contents for auditioningprior to establishing a purchase contract for the contents, informationrelating to the transmission of contents for auditioning may be storedin an auditioning database 17 separately from the aforesaid database 15.Combining data stored in the auditioning database 17 makes it possibleto combine as a total and display the trends in popularity for each ofthe contents. It goes without saying that the contents auditioningresults and purchasing results may be stored together in the purchasedatabase 15 and the popularity trends for both auditioning andpurchasing may be displayed for each of the contents.

The earnings obtained by deducting the necessary expenses from the sumof the support sum from the supporters and proceeds of the contentssales are distributed between the contents providers, administrator, andsupporters. The earnings derived from the support sum from thesupporters are distributed between the contents provider andadministrator, and the earnings from the proceeds of the contents salesare distributed between the contents provider, administrator, andsupporters. The distribution rule is agreed upon in advance by theparties, and the computation logic can be stored in the computer 1 inthe form of an earnings computation table 16 for each of the contents.

Earnings computation means 12 can compute the amount of earnings thathas to be actually received by the contents provider, administrator, andeach supporter by referring to the earnings computation table 16,supporter database 14, and purchase database 15. Computation withearnings computation means 12 can be conducted automatically with theprescribed frequency, or the computation of earnings can be conductedeach time it is requested by the contents provider or each supporter forthe requested instant. The computation results are transmitted to theperson who requested them.

Computing the earnings by using the earnings computation table 16 can beconducted, for example, in the manner as follows. An allocation ratiorepresenting the amount that can be received by the contents providerand administrator from the support sum from the supporters is stored foreach of the contents in the earnings computation table 16. Furthermore,another allocation ratio representing the amount that can be received bythe contents provider, administrator, and each supporter from theproceeds of a contents sale is also stored for each contents in theearnings computation table 16. When a request for earnings computationis received from the contents provider, the earnings sum from thesupport sum is computed by applying the allocation ratio presented inthe earnings computation table 16 to the total sum of support money thatcan be calculated from the supporter database 14 for each of thecontents provided by the contents provider, the earnings sum from thepurchase cost is computed by applying the allocation ratio presented inthe earnings computation table 16 to the total sum of purchase sum thatcan be calculated from the purchase database 15, and the information oncomputed earnings are transmitted to the contents provider. When arequest for earnings computation is received from a supporter, theearnings sum from the purchase cost is computed by applying theallocation ratio presented in the earnings computation table 16 to thetotal sum of purchase sum that can be calculated from the purchasedatabase 15, and the information on computed earnings is transmitted tothe supporter.

The computer is operated by the computer program. As described above, aprogram for distributing the intellectual contents is prepared foroperating the computer 1 so that it functions as a system fordistributing the intellectual contents, and operating the computer 1according to this program allows the computer 1 to function as a systemfor distributing the intellectual contents.

As disclosed above, the program for distributing the intellectualcontents in accordance with the present invention can be recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recordingmedium is a recording medium such as flexible disks, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R,CD-RW, magnetic tape, and the like. If a computer program is recorded onsuch a recording medium and the program is read from the recordingmedium with any computer, this computer can be operated as thedistribution system in accordance with the present invention.

In the explanation given hereinabove, the case was assumed in which thecontents 6 were stored in the computer 1 of the administrator, thecomputer 1 of the administrator and the system 5 of the purchaser(person wishing to make a purchase) was connected by the network 2, andthe computer 1 of the administrator conducted separate communicationwith each purchaser. On the other hand, if a new broadcasting mediumsuch as digital TV is used, then the transmission of information fromthe administrator can be conducted in a batch mode in the form ofbroadcasting and a plurality of purchasers (persons wishing to make apurchase) can receive the information at the same time by viewing thetelevision. Wireless distribution from communication-broadcastingsatellites or ground stations, cable broadcasting using CATV, and thelike can be considered as the medium for transmitting information.Further, in the case of digital TV, it is possible not only to obtaininformation in the form of broadcasting, but also to send information tothe broadcasting station via a telecommunication circuit from theviewer's receiver. In this case, the transmission of information fromthe viewer becomes interactive. Means for transmitting information fromthe viewer can be provided in a digital TV receiver or digital tuner andthe information can be transmitted by connecting the transmission meanswith the broadcasting station by a network. The usual telephone line ora CATV communication network in the case of broadcasting via CATV can beused as the network.

The present invention can be also used in such a digital TV broadcastingcapable of conducting interactive communication. The contentsdistribution program is included in the broadcasting, the purchaser(person wishing to make a purchase) viewing the contents distributionprogram selects the purchase contents from the contents introduced bythis program and transmits the purchase message from the transmissionmeans of the purchaser connected to the broadcasting station. Thebroadcasting station that has received the purchase message transmitsthe contents to the purchaser. The TV broadcasting waves have a hightransmission speed in a very wide area. Therefore, it is preferred thatthe TV broadcasting waves be used as the contents transmission means.However, because the TV broadcasting waves can be received by anyviewer, the system should be such that the received contents can be usedonly by the purchaser and cannot be used by other persons. Such aprovision is preferably incorporated as a function of the digital TVreceiver or digital tuner.

The contents distribution program in such digital TV broadcasting isbroadcasted via one of a vary large number of TV channels and a verylarge number of contents can be introduced within a limited broadcastingtimeframe. Therefore, it is not easy to attract purchasers fordistribution based on such a contents distribution program, unlesseffective advertisement is employed. In this respect, the activity ofthe supporters in accordance with the present invention becomeseffective. The supporters of each of the contents can advertise thecontents and, at the same time, can let their friends know thebroadcasting station and broadcasting time for the contents distributionprogram by which the contents is distributed. As a result, a pluralityof purchasers can be induced to view the contents distribution program.

When the digital TV broadcasting is used for the present invention, thebroadcasting station conducting the TV broadcasting most often becomesthe administrator in accordance with the present invention. The blockdiagram relating to such a case is shown in FIG. 5. The relationshipbetween the contents provider, administrator, and supporters isidentical to that employed when the contents 6 is distributed form thecomputer 1 via the network 2. Storing the contents 6 in the computer 1is unchanged. However, instead of distributing the contents 6 from thecomputer 1 via the network 2, the contents are transmitted from thecomputer 1 to the TV broadcasting station 61 and then distributed fromthe TV broadcasting station 61 via the broadcasting transmission mediumsuch as electromagnetic waves 62 or the like. Information of at leastone type selected from information relating to the method fordistributing the intellectual contents via the broadcasting transmissionmedium, information to the effect that the contents provision issolicited, information relating to the method of support by thesupporters, information on the earnings which are to be received by thecontents provider or supporters according to the support results andsales results, information to the effect that supporters are solicitedfor the contents that has been provided by the contents provider,information relating to the stored contents, information to the effectthat the contents can be received via the broadcasting transmissionmedium, information to the effect that the contents can be purchased,and general information on other methods, is transmitted within theprogram from the TV broadcasting station 61 via the broadcastingtransmission medium, instead of being transmitted to the system of anunspecified person via the network in response to the request from theunspecified person, and the viewer who has received the broadcasting canview this information via the TV receiver 63. The TV receiver 63 isusually connected to the TV broadcasting station 61 via the network 2and finally to the computer 1.

EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be explained hereinbelowbased on the example in which a computer 1 managed by an administratoris connected to internet 2 a and employed as a web server, and thecomputer 1 manages a music distribution club called a “Music PatronClub” for music distribution. The term “patron” is derived from aJapanese colloquialism meaning “a patron”. A connection means 11 of thecomputer 1, a system 3 of a contents provider, a system 4 of supporters,and a system 5 of purchasers are connected by a network 2 shown in FIG.1.

In the contents solicitation state, as shown in FIG. 2A, if a displayrequest is supplied to the computer 1 from the system of a contentsholder (which is to be a contents provider), a browser screen 40 shownin FIG. 6 is displayed via a browser software on the display of thesystem of the person making the request. This information describes thepurpose of the Music Patron Club. If a click button 51 a 1 on the screenis mouse clicked, contract terms and conditions guidelines for acontents provider are displayed. If the prescribed input is made in theinput frame 52 a in the contents solicitation display 41 and then theclick button 51 a 2 is mouse clicked, the person is the registered as acontents provider in the computer 1 of the administrator. Uponregistration, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A, the contents 6 aretransmitted from the system 3 of the contents provider into the computer1 via the network 2 according to the prescribed procedure.

Those who heard about the Music Patron Club and became interested, thosewho found the club by using an internet search system, those who alreadyknew about the Music Patron Club and wanted to search the contents, andother people can connect to the web page of the Music Patron Club storedin the computer 1 by connecting their own system (referred to herein asa system 5 of a purchaser) to internet 2 a and transmitting the addressof the Music Patron Club. As for the page prepared for the personplanning to make a purchase, as shown in FIG. 7A, a browser screen 40 isdisplayed in which the Music Patron Club is introduced and where theperson can proceed to an audition corner by inputting the desired musicgenre or artist name. The browser screen 40 shown in FIG. 7B can bedisplayed by inputting the prescribed information in the input frame 52b and then mouse clicking with the click button 51 b. If the contents ofinterest are present in the music table shown in FIG. 7B, the entiredata relating to the music or part thereof can be transmitted from thecomputer 1 to the purchaser system 5 and the music can be auditioned bythe output from the purchaser system 5 by mouse clicking an auditionbutton 51 b 4. If an author guide button 51 b 2 is mouse clicked, thenthe browser display 40 of author introduction corner shown in FIG. 9 canbe displayed. This introduction corner comprises a frame where theauthor can write freely. Furthermore, if an author fan button 51 b 3 ismouse clicked, then it is possible to move to the room of an electronicbulletin board where a dialogue between the author and the fan ispossible.

When a purchaser wishes to make a purchase from the Music Patron Club,the browser screen 40 shown in FIG. 8A is displayed in the purchasersystem. By inputting the desired musical genre or artist name in theinput frame 52 c and mouse clicking the click button 51 c 1, thepurchaser can display a music salon (download) shown in FIG. 8B. Ifafter listening to the music which is to be purchased, the person clicksa download button 51 c 4, and the music contents 6 can be transmittedfrom the computer 1 to the purchaser system 5 via the network 2. In theMusic Patron Club, payment of a purchase cost is conducted by using thenetwork cost settlement agent service already established at the time ofdownload for servicing those who have completed heretofore the memberregistration procedure.

The person wishing to become a supporter connects his/her own system(referred to hereinbelow as a system 4 of the supporter) to internet 2a, accesses the web page opened in the administrator computer 1, andsends a request displayed in FIG. 3A. As a result, the browser screen 40shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display of the supporter system viathe browser software. If the click button 51 d 1 is mouse clicked, theguidelines relating to the terms and conditions of the contract to beestablished between a supporter and the administrator are displayed.When a person wishes to become a supporter, then the necessary inputincluding the music which is the object of support and the investmentamount is made in the input frame 52 d and then the input results aresent by mouse clicking the send button 51 d 2. As a result, thedeclaration of support intent shown in FIG. 3A is sent. Payment of thesupport money is conducted by the method (bank transfer and the like)indicated by the system administrator. Upon confirmation of moneyreception, the personal identification information is transferred fromthe computer of the administrator to the supporter system and thepayment information is stored in the supporter database 14.

When a supporter wishes to check the earnings status, if access is madefrom the supporter system 4, then the browser screen 40 shown in FIG.11A is displayed via the browser software on the display of supportersystem. The earnings status of the entire Music Patron Club can bedisplayed by clicking the click button 51 e 1. If the click button 51 e2 is mouse clicked upon inputting the ID code and password as thepersonal identification information of the supporter in the input frame52 e, then the earnings results 43 a are displayed in the browser screen40 shown in FIG. 11B. This display shows the status of earnings whichare to be received by supporters; total earnings and earnings permusical item are displayed herein.

When a contents provider wishes to check the earnings status, thebrowser screen 40 shown in FIG. 12A is similarly displayed via thebrowser software on the display of the system of the contents provider.If the click button 51 f 1 is mouse clicked upon inputting the ID codeand password in the input frame 52 f, then the earnings results 43 b forthe contents provider shown in FIG. 12B are displayed.

As described hereinabove, in accordance with the present invention, theobject of purchasing the intellectual contents by a purchaser is notlimited to individual usage. For example, the purchaser may be abroadcasting corporation purchasing a musical performance for subsequentbroadcasting, or the purchase can be made for reproducing the musicalperformance in the places of meeting where a large number of people arepresent. In FIGS. 11A and 11B and FIGS. 12A and 12B, the “earnings ofcopyright segment 1” represent earnings based on the purchase costreceived from the person who made the purchase with the object ofindividual use, and the “earnings of copyright segment 2” representearnings based on the purchase cost received from the person who madethe purchase with the object other than individual use. In the presentembodiment, the total is determined separately for the two groups.

In the prior art, even when the artists (an assemblage of author andperformers) used a sound source that they have recorded by themselves,if this sound source was brought to a record company and marketed on CD,then the artists could receive not more than about 5% of the totalproceeds of sales. Further, even when the artists tried to store thecontents in their own web page and distribute it via the network, theproceeds of sales could not be improved because of insufficientadvertisement.

In contrast, employing the present invention in the form of a MusicPatron Club makes it possible for the artist to obtain a lump sum as ashare from the support sum received from the supporters and also toincrease the popularity of the Music Patron Club and the contents thatare provided by the artist by means of advertisement activity of thesupporters, thereby effectively increasing the proceeds of sales via netdistribution. Furthermore, the share of the artist who thus increasedthe sales also rises by comparison with that obtained in the case ofselling via the record company. Thus, the artist can get about 50% ofproceeds of sales, including the lump sum received and the support sum.

The supporter can increase earnings in excess of the contribution madeas a support sum by investing the initial support sum and thendiligently working on public advertisement of the contents.

Because the administrator is not required to bear the expense of CDmanufacture or circulation and promotion activity, the administrationexpenses can be reduced. As a result, earnings can be substantiallyincreased even if the contents price is decreased and the share ratio ofthe administrator in the proceeds of sales is decreased.

INDUSTRIAL USE

The present invention relates to a method for distributing theintellectual contents such as music, musical performances, movies, art,literature, comics, computer software, and the like from a computer viaa network, wherein the distribution system solicits supporters forsupporting the contents which are to be distributed. The activity ofintellectual contents providers such as performers is supported by thefinancial aid of supporters and the sales results of the intellectualcontents such as music are increased, for example, by the advertisementactivity of supporters. Therefore, the earnings of contents providersand distribution system administrators can be increased based on thesupport money and the increase in sales. The supporter can receiveearnings according to the support results and sale results.

In accordance with the present invention the earnings which are to bereturned to the contents provider and supporters are computed by usingthe support results and purchase results stored in a computer and thecomputation results can be checked at any time by the contents provideror supporters via a network. Therefore, the contents provider andsupporters can safely trust the administration to the administrator.

In accordance with the present invention, a person can be identified bypersonal identification information assigned to the contents providerand supporters. Therefore, the individual earnings results can be sentto personal systems from the administrator system via a network.

In accordance with the present invention, a specific feature of thedistribution method—support method is that information can be sent to awide range of systems of unspecified persons via a network. Therefore,any person wishing to provide contents, or to support or purchase thecontents can receive this information and use the distribution system.

1. (canceled)
 2. A digital contents distribution method for distributingdigital contents from a computer via a network, the computer beingconnectable to a contents provider terminal of a contents provider, auser terminal of a user, recommender terminals of recommenders, and apurchaser terminal of a purchaser, and the digital contents providedfrom the contents provider, purchase results relating to the purchase ofthe digital contents by the purchaser, and support results from therecommenders relating to the digital contents being stored in thecomputer, the support results being defined by supports made by therespective recommenders, the digital contents distribution methodcomprising: providing information on estimated earnings to be receivedby a recommender upon a request from a user terminal of a user who is apotential recommender; receiving, by the computer, support for thedigital contents from the user terminal; after receiving the supportfrom the user terminal, identifying, by the computer, the user terminalas a recommender terminal; updating the support results of therecommender terminal stored in the computer upon a receipt of thesupport from the recommender terminal; updating purchase resultsrelating to the purchase of the digital contents stored in the computerupon a receipt of the purchase of the digital contents by the purchaser;computing earnings to be received by each of the recommenders with thecomputer by using the updated support results of the respectiverecommenders and the updated purchase results stored in the computer,the earnings to be received by the recommenders being variable from theestimated earnings based on the support results of the respectiverecommenders and the purchase results of the digital contents at thetime of the computation; and transmitting information on the earningsfrom the computer to the recommender terminals via the network.
 3. Thedigital contents distribution method as described in claim 2, furthercomprising: computing earnings to be received by the contents providerwith the computer by using the support results and the purchase resultsstored in the computer.
 4. The digital contents distribution method asdescribed in claim 2, further comprising: in response to a request fromthe a recommender, transmitting actual current earnings to be receivedby the recommender from the computer via the network to a recommenderterminal of the recommender, the actual current earnings being computedby using the support results and the purchase results of the time of therequest form the recommender.
 5. The digital contents distributionmethod as described in claim 4, further comprising: assigning, by thecomputer, personal identification information to the contents provider,wherein transmission of information relating to the contents providerand the recommender is conducted when at least one of the personalidentification information from the contents provider terminal and thepersonal identification information from the recommender terminal hasbeen received via the network.
 6. The digital contents distributionmethod as described in claim 3, further comprising: transmitting, to therecommender terminals, information on the digital contents distributedvia the network, information indicating that a provision of the contentshas been solicited, information relating to a method for the supportemployed by the recommenders, and information on the earnings to bereceived by the contents provider in response to the support results andpurchase results in response to the support received from therecommender terminals.
 7. The digital contents distribution method asdescribed in claim 2, further comprising: transmitting information onthe digital contents distributed via the network, information indicatingthat the recommender have been solicited with respect to the contentsprovided from the contents provider, and information relating to amethod for the support employed by the recommenders.
 8. The digitalcontents distribution method as described in claim 2, furthercomprising: transmitting information on the contents that have beenstored, information indicating that the contents can be received via thenetwork, and information indicating that the contents can be purchasedin response to a request from the user of the user terminal.
 9. Thedigital contents distribution method as described in claim 8, whereinthe information on the stored contents comprises information provided bythe contents provider, and the information provided by the contentsprovider is freely updatable in response to accessing by the contentsprovider to the computer via the network.
 10. The digital contentsdistribution method as described in claim 2, further comprising:transmitting the entirety of the digital contents to purchaser terminalvia the network in response to a request from the purchaser,irrespective of whether a declaration of purchase intention by thepurchaser is present or not, and the declaration of purchase intentionby the purchaser is received thereafter.
 11. The digital contentsdistribution method as described in claim 2, further comprising:assigning personal identification information to the purchaser inresponse to a request from the purchaser, wherein the computeridentifies the purchaser by the personal identification informationafter the assigning of the personal identification information.
 12. Adigital contents distribution system for distributing the digitalcontents from a computer via a network, the digital contentsdistribution system comprising: the computer, a contents providerterminal of a contents provider, a user terminal of a user, recommenderterminals of recommenders, and a purchaser terminal of a purchaser,connected to each other via the network; a contents storage that storesthe digital contents provided from the contents provider; a supportstorage that stores support results of support from the recommenders onthe digital contents; and a purchase storage that stores purchaseresults of a purchase of the digital contents by the purchaser; whereinupon a request from a user terminal of a user who is a potentialrecommender, the computer provides information on estimated earnings tobe received by a recommender to the user terminal, when the computerreceives support for the digital contents from the user terminal, thecomputer identifies the user terminal as a recommender terminal, thecomputer updates the support results of the recommender terminal storedin the support storage upon receiving the support from the recommenderterminal, the computer updates the purchase results relating to thepurchase of the digital contents stored in the purchase storage upon areceipt of the purchase of the digital contents by the purchaser, thecomputer computes earnings to be received by each of the recommenders byusing the updated support results of the respective recommenders storedin the support storage and the updated purchase results stored in thepurchase storage, the earnings to be received by the recommenders beingvariable from the estimated earnings based on the support results of therespective recommenders and the purchase results of the digital contentsat the time of the computation, and the computer transmits informationon the earnings to the at least one recommender terminal via thenetwork.
 13. The digital contents distribution system as described inclaim 12, wherein the computer computes earnings to be received by thecontents provider by using the support results and the purchase resultsstored in the computer.
 14. The digital contents distribution system asdescribed in claim 12, wherein in response to a request from arecommender, the computer computes actual current earnings to bereceived by the recommender by using the support results and thepurchase results of the time of the request form the recommender, andcomputation results are transmitted from the computer to recommenderterminal of the recommender via the network.
 15. The digital contentsdistribution system as described in claim 12, wherein the computertransmits, to the recommender terminals, information on the digitalcontents distributed via the network, information indicating that aprovision of the contents has been solicited, information relating to amethod for the support employed by the recommenders, informationindicating that the recommenders have been solicited with respect to thecontents provided from the contents provider, information on the storedcontents, information indicating that the contents can be received viathe network, and information indicating that the contents can bepurchased in response to a request from the user.
 16. The digitalcontents distribution system as described in claim 15, wherein theinformation on the stored contents comprises information provided by thecontents provider, and the information provided by the contents provideris freely updatable in response to accessing by the contents provider tothe digital contents distribution system via the network.
 17. Thedigital contents distribution system as described in claim 12, whereinthe entirety of the digital contents is transmitted to the purchaserterminal via the network in response to a request from the purchaser viathe network, irrespective of whether a declaration of purchase intentionby the purchaser is present or not, and the declaration of purchaseintention by the purchaser is received thereafter.
 18. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium containing a digital contents distributionprogram that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer toperform: connecting a contents provider terminal of a contents provider,a user terminal of a user, recommender terminals of recommenders, and apurchaser terminal of a purchaser and the computer via a network;providing information on estimated earnings to be received by arecommender upon a request from a user terminal of a user who is apotential recommender; receiving, by the computer, support for thedigital contents from the user terminal; after receiving the supportfrom the user terminal, identifying, by the computer, the user terminalas a recommender terminal; updating the support results of therecommender terminal stored in the computer upon a receipt of thesupport from the recommender terminal; updating purchase resultsrelating to the purchase of the digital contents stored in the computerupon a receipt of the purchase of the digital contents by the purchaser;computing earnings to be received by each of the recommenders with thecomputer by using the updated support results of the respectiverecommenders and the updated purchase results stored in the computer,the earnings to be received by the recommenders being variable from theestimated earnings based on the support results of the respectiverecommenders and the purchase results of the digital contents at thetime of the computation; and transmitting information on the earningsfrom the computer to the recommender terminals via the network.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 18,wherein the computer is caused to compute earnings to be received by thecontents provider with the computer by using the support results and thepurchase results stored in the computer
 20. The non-transitory computerreadable medium as described in claim 18, wherein in response to arequest from a recommender, the computer is caused to transmit actualcurrent earnings to be received by the recommender from the computer viathe network to a recommender terminal of the recommender, the actualcurrent earnings being computed by using the support results and thepurchase results of the time of the request form the recommender.